DOLORES GONZALES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM ADDITION

Albuquerque Public Schools

The Dolores Gonzales Elementary School Classroom Addition project is a 19,049 sq. ft., two-story addition and renovation for Albuquerque Public Schools (APS). The project breathed life into to a 40-year old campus, skillfully constructing a major addition connected to an active, operating school building.

​In some cases separated from students by only an interior wall, the construction crew executed the bold and functional designs of Westwork Architects to deliver a two-story, 17-classroom addition, cafeteria addition, bathroom renovation, and new art/music classroom building.

Dolores Gonzales Elementary School serves a special need among the APS network of schools – bilingual education. The school pioneered a program more than 15 years ago designed to “graduate bilingual, bi-literate students who value both languages and cultures.” In an age of globalization and worldwide diplomacy, the students of Dolores Gonzales Elementary School are engaging the skills that will carry their future success across borders, cultures, and nations. This project gives them a modern space to do that.

​The project was truly embraced by the community – carrying with it the genuine interest and involvement from the school’s administration and staff, parents, and students. Forty years after its original construction, Dolores Gonzales Elementary School beneficiaries – its students – celebrated their “new school” with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.